Trump Card
by LaughingAstarael
Summary: Winry's been taken, and Ed's sure Wrath is behind it. He's wracked by guilt and worry. What did he do to endanger her? Is it even Wrath's doing? And what's Roy's part in it all? EdxWin, implied Royai. Mangaverse, chapter 56 spoilers. LAST chapter up!
1. Prologue

Winry Rockbell hummed to hereslf as she made some last adjustments to a new automail arm. It had put her in mind of the Elric brothers - of Ed in particular - even though this was to be a woman's left arm, from the elbow down. It was nice to remember the two from before - and it always put a proud, sad smile on her lips to remember Ed's iron determination in the face of the painful automail surgery.

Working on the piece had done more than bring back memories. Winry was thoughtful as she put the finishing touches on the automail, making her more detached from her work than her usual absolute concentration. The limb she was working on was lighter, streamlined, and though it wasn't as structurally strong as Ed's automail, Winry could see ways to apply certain concepts to her masterpiece.

She frowned in thought as she sat back, grabbing a rag to wipe off her hands. The finished piece on the worktable before her was giving her ideas, and Winry could already see herself making this and that alteration to Ed's arm. It would have to wait, however, until he broke his automail yet again.

Sighing, Winry threw the rag back onto the worktable. That boy wasn't going to decide to visit just because she'd finally admitted to herself what she felt for her old friend and best customer. Though she could make an educated guess as to what _his_ feelings were, something as trifling and selfish as that wasn't going to distract him from his quest.

Leaning forward again to begin cleaning up, Winry paused. She could have sworn she'd just spotted movement in the newly shined metal. Casually laying a hand on her trusty old wrench, she continued to putter around her workspace, keeping an eye on the metal limb before her. Nothing moved for a good five minutes, and Winry was beginning to doubt what she had seen before. She was tired, she wanted to close up the shop and take a shower, she was not helping herself by being paranoid.

Except that the movement came again. Winry wasn't a stupid girl - she knew that if this were an actual customer, they would have said something by now. Ed never did say how his automail kept getting destoryed, but Winry couldn't help but wonder how many enemies he'd made. Her grip on the wrench tightened.

Her wait wasn't long. She'd started to clean slower, not even watching what she was doing in favor of keeping an eye on the automail's reflection. It was because of this that she was prepared when the movement came a third time, suddenly moving forward and resolving itself into a figure.

Before Winry fully realized that she had spun in her seat to face the threat, her wrench flew true. Her trusty tool struck her assailant with a dull sound and the man dropped like a stone without so much as a sound. Surging to her feet in fierce triumph, Winry strode over to the prone figure.

The hand came over her mouth and nose without warning, a damp cloth pressing tightly against her face. Winry bucked frantically as another hand wound over her chest to grip her shoulder, but she could already feel herself becoming sluggish. Her desperate thrashing continued, but the grip on her was unrelenting and solid.

As consciousness fled Winry, a rush of despair and anger roared in her ears. She tried to scream something, anything, but the darkness overtook her vision, and her body sagged in her captor's grasp.

Only the unfeeling automail stood witness as Winry was taken.

--

_AN: First of all, a thank you to Yellow Mask, who is the best beta ever (:_

_Next, welcome one and all to my first multi-chapter fanfiction since I was a Sue-writing, illiterate n00b lo all these many years. Hopefully, this will work out better - I actually have an outline for this one. _

_Please enjoy, and feel free to leave a review. Thanks._


	2. One

"Mustang," Edward Elric gasped out, slamming open the door.

The man before him did not deign to look up from his paperwork. Colonel Roy Mustang's pen scratched against the form for a moment before he answered the sudden intrusion calmly.

"Yes, Fullmetal?" His voice was quiet and resigned, and had Ed been less frantic, he might not have found this reason to get angry. But now was not the time, and he was only infuriated by the apparent disinterest he was being met with.

"They've taken Winry." Ed's voice shook as he said it, and some part of him felt like the utterance made it real. But Mustang had looked up, and the blond alchemist took this sign of attention with both hands, rushing on with, "Garfiel noticed she was gone this morning and called Gra - Pinako. She just called me." He paused. "Mustang, I _know _this is Wrath's doing."

Black eyes regarded him silently for a moment, seeming to take in every detail of his tortured form. The beat of quiet stretched beyond comfort before the colonel chose to answer.

"To accuse the Fuhrer, you'll need something more than a gut feeling," he said a little coldly. Ed opened his mouth, gold eyes flashing, but the older man continued before he could be interrupted. "Beyond that, and more importantly - what do you need with me?"

Ed returned the veiled black gaze of his superior without flinching. He desperately wanted to shout, to storm out, even to hit that calm face, but his fear for Winry overcame these self-destructive options and enabled him to reply with a degree of control.

"I need your help, Mustang," he said from between gritted teeth, ignoring the resulting arched eyebrow of the man before him. "You're the only one that I can get at who knows about the humunculi. I can - trust you." His tone said otherwise, but Ed clenched his jaw, eyes daring the colonel to challenge the statement.

Mustang didn't. Instead, he dropped Ed's golden gaze and took up his pen again. Pulling the next sheet from the top of the pile of paperwork before him, he said flatly, "It doesn't have anything to do with me. Why should I risk my neck for your mechanic?"

With a bang, Ed slammed both of his hands onto Mustang's desk. The older man looked up with the same casual disinterest he had been affecting, but the fury and desperation in Ed's eyes served to alter Mustang's face to a certain extent - not that the golden-eyed alchemist could have noticed any change that subtle through the cloud of his anger. He was so enraged at his superior's cold response that it was taking all of his self-control not to hit the man.

"You fucking _bastard_," he hissed, and Mustang sat back, eyebrows raised. Ed opened his mouth, the screamed curses already rising in his throat like bile, but something in the way the man before him was watching his movements penetrated the swirling fog of fury. Snapping his mouth shut, the younger man took his hands from the desk and stepped back. Though his blood still hummed with anger, Ed forced his voice to be level as he spoke.

"What if the one gone was Lieutenant Hawkeye, Colonel?"

Ed couldn't help but feel a spark of satisfaction as Mustang's face went still and his eyes went wide. He turned away from his superior as the silence stretched out, his heavy steps all that belied the anger that remained inside him.

"Wait."

Ed couldn't help but give a small, humorless smile to the door before he turned back to face his superior, wiping his face determinedly blank. "Yeah?"

Mustang's black eyes held none of the emotion that had been so apparent only a moment ago. They betrayed as little as his face as he sighed and leaned forward, hands flat against the desk as he prepared to rise.

"Where do you propose we start?"

--

_AN: As always, thank you to Yellow Mask for beta reading - especially for this chapter, over which I was sort of freaking out._

_Roy is a jackass in this chapter. This was really hard to write (or, more specifically, to not edit out) - to me, Roy really is a deeply caring person, even if he doesn't show it all of the time. But this is following Ed's POV (which was** also**_ _really hard to write), and he's not too charitable to Roy, and so I must let it lie. In two chapters I'll make it up x3._

_Thank you everyone for your reviews (:_


	3. Two

Al watched his brother worriedly from his place sitting against the wall. Ever since Granny had called saying Winry was gone, Ed had been frantic. He had rushed out earlier this afternoon, muttering something in passing about getting help, and had returned with a curious mix of anger and smugness. Watching him now, Al only felt helpless and sad.

Having Winry vanish was like a punch in the stomach - Al still remembered the sensation from those hellish encounters on the island. But her disappearance was somewhat removed, something that had happened all the way over at Rush Valley. It wasn't immediately grasped: it could be put out of his mind to a certain extent when it all got too much to bear.

His brother's pacing and expression could not be ignored with similar ease. Something had to be done. Sitting here uselessly as his brother went crazy with worry was more than Al could take.

"Brother," he said at last, his voice sounding small, "please try to sleep. It's past midnight - you've not sat down for hours. Please -"

Ed cut him off sharply. "Al. _Winry's gone_. I can't just - sit? sleep? I just can't." But he had stopped himself in his lap of the room and stood there, staring at the floor furiously.

"You can't do anything now, Brother. You won't help her by not sleeping," Al said gently. He knew his brother, and understood that simple reasoning was only so effective when he was like this. What else could he do, though? He had to try.

Snorting, Ed shook his head angrily. But to his brother's suprise he folded down into a sitting position next to him anyway, sliding down the wall with something like a growl.

They sat like that for a while, shoulder to shoulder, Al looking down at his brother with silent worry while Ed frowned down at his hands. Neither made a move to break the silence, each wrapped up in his own thoughts, until Ed took in a shuddering breath and whispered, "It's my fault."

"_What_?" The last thing Al wanted was his brother to heap the blame upon himself. That bred bad things, especially when undirected and unresolved - at least with their mother, Ed had the Philosopher's Stone to fixate on, to bring the hope of forgiveness.

"I _said_," the blond alchemist snapped, looking up at Al, "it's my fault. If Wrath took her - and he did - then it's because I _did something_." His hands clenched in his lap.

If his younger brother had been able to do so, he would have scowled. "But you haven't _done_ anything -"

"_Don't you think I know that_?" Al was frightened at the look that twisted his brother's face. Ed was breathing raggedly, and his hands had come apart only to tense into claws, the metal of his automail horrifying in the artificial light of the overhead fixture. "Al, I have gone over the whole past fucking _month_ in my head more times than I can _count_, and I can't remember _one thing_ I've done wrong. I was _careless_, Al, and I can't remember how or where, and Winry's _gone_ for it."

Ed dropped his head into his hands, a sob ripping from his throat. Al put his hand hesitantly on his brother's shaking shoulder, knowing with a sense of despair that there was nothing he could do to convince his brother that it wasn't his fault.

The two brothers sat there late into the night, Ed's helpless, begrudged sobs ripping at Al, who could do nothing but be there. When the older boy finally did fall asleep, his tears spent for the moment, his brother gently picked him up and put him into one of the beds.

Al settled back against the wall then, watching Ed's troubled sleep for the remainder of the long night.

--

_AN: Thank you to Yellow Mask, who is wonderful. :)_

_This was an odd chapter. I've never written from Al's POV, but I wanted to show this scene, and I didn't want it to be from Ed's perspective. I like how it came out overall, but there are some parts that could possibly have flowed better. Ah well, no matter - I do like it, after all._

_Critique on my writing from Al's perspective - or on anything else in my writing, for that matter - is eternally welcome._


	4. Three

It was the most silent Roy had ever seen the Elric brothers. Usually, Edward was proud and snappy in his presence, Alphonse apologetic and polite. Now, though, the former looked drawn and combative, the latter seeming sad. Neither spoke.

Not that Roy himself was any bettter. He was as - miserable? empty? - as he had been all month. Some part of him felt bad about having taken it out on Edward, but another part - the part screaming ar him now - could only think of Wrath and what he would do to Riza.

Roy would honestly have been glad to help the Elrics find Winry only a month before. But - and he had admitted this to himself early on - he was brooding. The drive to keep the offensive up against the Homunculi was still going strong, but the wheels needed to turn before things could happen, and there was only so much he could do fill the time. Even the paperwork he now did without complaint or delay could not distract him from his new subordinates and their obvious spying. It made him angry in a frighteningly passive way, and it had settled into a pit of bitterness with shocking speed.

"We're here." Al's small voice cut through the thick silence, and both Roy and Ed started. The latter jumped up from his seat, but the former simply turned to the window. Looking at him, the blond alchemist snarled.

"Come _on_, Mustang," he began, and stopped short. Roy's expression had, for a moment, made him pause, but then the colonel stood, wiping his expression blank.

"Yeah," he said tiredly, "let's go."

-

Garfiel, tissues in hand, was red-eyed and subdued when the three arrived. Roy had decided he would do the talking - neither Elric seemed up to it - but before he had even opened his mouth, Ed spoke up.

"What happened?" he asked flatly. Though he still seemed beat down, there seemed to be a new spark in his eyes. Roy supposed it came from being so close to where Winry had last been - they were on the path to finding her, finally. It made him glad to see that the blond alchemist hadn't simply crumbled under this blow. Edward was an admirable kid in many ways, not the least being is fortitude in the face of tragedy. It was a sign of how much he cared for his mechanic that he had been felled so low.

Wringing his hands, Garfiel looked miserable, hesitating before answering. "I don't know much more than you boys do. Winry worked late last night - there's her finished piece." He pointed at a beautifully crafted piece of automail lying on the worktable. It was a forearm piece, looking light and streamlined. "When she wasn't upstairs by eleven, I got worried and came down here." The man paused, dabbing at his eyes with a tissue. "Winry was gone. Her tools were all on the worktable with the automail - nothing was stolen. There was a note on the counter from someone saying their friend needed a leg - they put down nine th-thirty five at th-the end." Garfiel hiccuped and dropped his head into a big hand and wailed, "She was gone for over an _hour_ and I never even _knew_!"

There was something incredibly disturbing in seeing this man sob. Roy shifted his weight uncomfortably for a moment before asking, "Where is this note?" Garfiel hiccuped again and pointed a wavering finger at the counter, blowing his nose loudly into a tissue and sniffling.

Ed strode to the counter and snatched up the note, Al following after a moment. Both bent over the paper silently for a beat. Roy hung back, unwilling to intrude - it went without saying that he was excluded from what they were feeling.

Lost in his own thoughts, Roy jumped slightly when Ed stomped back over to him, thrusting the scarp of aper into his hands. "Here," the blond said, dissappointment and disgust in his voice. "Keep it if you want - it's not worth anything. We're going to look around."

Roy watched his stride off before glancing down at the paper. He could see why Edward saw is as frustrating - what had been the possibilty of a good hint was, in actuality, just a simple note, almost word-for-word for what Garfiel had said.

Pocketing the paper, Roy turned towards Ed in time to miss the door slamming open. Swinging back around, the colonel caught sight of a girl makng a beeline toward Garfiel, angruish written all over her face.

"Paninya!" the automail mechaic cried, and scooped the newcomer into a hug. "You heard, honey?"

The girl - Paninya - struggled free. "Yeah, I heard." She balled up one hand into a fist, the other coming up to cover her eyes. "I couldn't find her," she continued, her voice low and thick as she struggled to keep in control. "I looked everywhere, asked everyone - nothing came up." Garfiel wrapped her in another hug, ignoring her muffled, half-hearted protestations, and led her to the back of the shop where they were shielded by boxes and display cases.

Al made as if to follow, but faltered as his brother shook his head. Both Elrics turned away from Winry's friends and returned to their work of searching for anything that could help lead them to her. Ed's expresseion seemed to echo Paninya's as he sighed, balled his fists, and wandered towards to workbench.

Roy gazed after the two in the back of the room long after they'd slipped from sight, his dark eyes inscrutable as pieces shifted around in his mind. He stood there for several minutes before he blinked, his mind returning to his current surroundings. Then Roy moved to the center of the room and looked around, marking in his head what surrounded him.

"There's nothing!" Ed barked statement startled the colonel out of his thoughts. Making his way over to the worktable where the blond stood, Roy waited silently as Ed picked up a large wrench gently. "We haven't found _anything_," the boy began softly, his voice raising in volume and heat as he continued, "Where the fuck do we go from here!"

"I..."

Roy had been about to say 'I don't know' - there truly were no leads. But he had spotted something, and a new idea had presented itself.

"Yes, Colonel?" asked Al, and Roy blinked.

"Nothing. I don't know any more than you two." A door closed noisily in the back of the room, making the Elrics start, and as Garfiel returned to the front, Roy turned to him and continued, "Do you know any places we can stay?"

The colonel left as Garfiel gave directions to the two boys. Circling around back, Roy smiled to himself without humor and clearned his throat.

Paninya's head whipped up, an arm dashing across her eyes. "What the hell do you want?" she demanded angrily.

Roy's mirthless smile had been replaced by a businesslike frown, but his voice was soft as he answered, "I think there may be a way you could help us."

-

When he rejoined the Elrics a few moments later at the front of the shop, Roy Mustang wore the same down-turned, thoughtful expression he had sported for the whole train-ride down. But his eyes had a hard spark to them, and as they set off, his steps were newly purposeful.

--

_AN: Again, thank you to Yellow Mask for her wonderful beta-ing _

_Joy-girl got it right in her review - Roy's been pissy because this is the right thing to do, but he's most likely putting Riza in danger for it. I hope this chapter explained it better ._

_Also - I apologize for the length of my chapters. I've been roleplaying for a few years, and my style really settled into a bit of a sparse one - I can put across who the character is, what he's doing, what's generally going on, but it's fairly boiled down. Writing so many oneshots probably doens't help either, haha. Even so, I hope you all enjoy my writing. Maybe, at some point in the future, I'll be able to work up my wordcount :3_

_(speaking of word count - this chapter is about 1200 words. hehe. i think it's going to be the longest chapter in this fic...)_


	5. Four

The walk to the hotel was made in an odd cloud of different moods. Al could feel the now familiar helpless rage radiating off of his brother, mixed with an ever-growing sence of despair. The colonel had seemed sad in an odd way for the whole train ride - Al still couldn't pin it down. To add to the younger Elric's confusion, the man now seemed somehow... pleased. To understand that mood was beyond him. Al, himself, was wracked evenly with sadness and worry. Winry was gone, almost certainly taken by Wrath, and his brother was struggling to keep his head above the torrent of emotions unleashed by that event. It was all Al could do to lend him his support.

Not one of them spoke until they reached the hotel. Al had noticed Roy dropping back a little for the last few blocks, but as the Elric brothers stopped before their destination, the colonel broke away entirely, heading for a side street not far down.

"Colonel, what...?" Al began.

Ed's growel overrode his brother's soft voice. "What the hell?"

Roy looked impassively down at Ed. "I need to take care of some busines, Fullmetal," he said by way of explanation, his tone suggeting that the shorter alchemist didn't quite merit it. "I'll be back before morning." Having said his bit, he turned away, his stride unhurried as he stolled towards the intersection.

"Wha - that's not good enough! Come back here, you bastard!" Ed made as if to bolt after him, but Al cried out and grabbed his shoulder. His brother snarled and wrenched himself away, but didn't try to follow his superior. Instead, he turned without a word and stalked into the hotel, leaving Al to follow.

He did, after a moment. His brother was standing at the stairway, a room key in his hand and an expression of remorse on his face. Al couldn't bring himself to remain angry. Coming to stand alongside Ed, he simply whispered, "Let's get some rest."

Of couse, neither of them did sleep. For Al, it was just another endless night in a long series of endless nights, but for his brother, it soon seemed to be shaping up into the second night in a row of no slumber and less rest. For a long while, Ed tried to fall asleep while his brother silently watched - but it was futile, and he sat up after only a few hours.

"Where is that asshole?" were the first words that broke the silence. Swinging his legs out from under the covers to the floor, Ed shook his head in sluggish anger, long blond hair falling into his face. "It has to be one in the morning. Whatever he needed to do, he should have finished by now."

"Brother..." Al began doubtfully, a sense of deja vu washing through him.

He never got to finish. His brother had stood from the bed, leaning against the wall in his undershirt and boxers, when he suddenly spun and punched the wall. "Winry could be _dead_," he said, the strangled words ripping from his throat as Al shot to his feet in alarm at Ed's sudden violence.

"Brother! Stop, _please_!" he cried, and in response Ed punched the wall again, this time harder. He would have struck a third time - and might have put his hand through the wall - but for the armor arms that encircled him and held him fast.

"Get _off_ me, Al!" The blond alchemist bucked and snarled, but his bother's grasp was unfaltering. After a while his struggles lessened, and then ceased; he slumped in exhaustion in his brother's arms, and grew sullenly silent.

Hesitantly, Al loosened his grip. When Ed did nothing more than sink into a sitting position on the floor, the younger Elric sighed in relief and said, more than a little angry, "What _wa_s that, Brother? I _know_ you're worried about Winry - I am, too! But - "

"It's not just that," growled Ed, his voice strained from exhaustion and fury. "Winry could be _dead_," again came the possibility so savagely uttered before; now, however, it was whispered with a deep, aching sadness. "She could be dead, or hurt, or scared, and instead of helping us at all, that _God-damned bastard_ is out chasing some fucking _tail_!" His voice had escalated from a whisper to a roar, and by the last word his entire body was tense and his face was once again contorted with rage.

The door banged open before he could take a breath.

Both boys whipped around, Ed springing to his feet and into a fighting stance as his brother stepped forward, gauntlets coming up. "Who - ?" the latter began, but he stopped as the light was flicked on.

Colonel Roy Mustang's humorless smile was the first thing that Al noticed, his unreadable black eyes the second. He looked tired, even through his cold expression and stiff professional bearing. At Ed's surly look his mirthless smile disappeared.

"What do you want?" The blond asked him through clenched teeth.

Roy simply looked at his subordinate silently for a moment, as if guaging his options. Al could see Ed gearing up to shout; apparently the Colonel could, as well. Preempting any outbursts, the older man turned his back on the two Elric brothers and beckoned.

"Come on."

--

_AN: Again, a thank you to Yellow Mask, the Wonder Beta!_

_This one really echos the third chapter (Two), but is hopefully a lot heavier in terms of Ed's despair and anger. Haha. But I like how I wrote the door slamming open... it's my favorite part of this chapter, lol._

_Two chapter after this one!_


	6. Five

Ed honestly didn't know why he had consented to follow that asshole Mustang - it probably had something to do with the fact that Al had agreed before anything else could be said. It was beyond him to understand why the Colonel would go after prostitutes on a night like this - Ed's hands clenched at the very thought. That jackass was so stupid. It was obvious he had an interest in Lieutenant Hawkeye, and what did he do about it? Nothing helpful, to be sure. Sometimes Ed wondered how much his superior really cared about anything.

That was, however, beside the point. Mustang was leading them who-knew-where and refusing to answer any questions, no matter if the queries were about his previous whereabouts or prospective destination. Ed could tell that they were heading out of the downtown area and its well-to-do houses, even in the deceptive light of the streetlamps in the pre-dawn blackness. On top of it all, the colonel was checking a scrap of paper every few blocks, white blending into the white of his gloves.

It was all too much. "Dammit, Mustang, do you even /_know_/ where you're taking us? I fucking hope it's not a brothel."

The Colonel paused and looked over his shoulder. It was hard to tell his exact expression in the bad light, but Ed froze nonetheless. He felt, suddenly, that he was wrong, that he was missing something - but Mustang turned away before the blond could pinpoint the feeling, saying flatly, "Yes, Fullmetal, I know where we're going." He did not respond to the second part of Ed's outburst.

They continued on in silence for what felt like a long time to Ed's tired body. The houses got shabbier, the streetlamps making what might have been cheerful gardens into overgrown, weed-filled lots. Al's steps were uncomfortably loud in the dark hour before dawn, and Ed found himself hurrying to close the distance between himself and the colonel, though he'd never admit it. He had no clue where they were going, and he'd be damned if he'd let Mustang lose him and his brother out here.

Grey was beginning to creep into the sky when Mustang finally stopped. Ed nearly ran into him, and would have if his brother hadn't put out a hand to halt his stumbling steps. Blinking eyes heavy with fatigue, the elder Elric looked around him, scowling at the dilapidated houses surrounding him. He opened his mouth to speak, the growl already rising, but the colonel cut him off.

"That one," he said tightly, pointing at a small house across the street. Ed found it comforting to see the familiar gloves flashing white in the pre-dawn, but it didn't stop him from muttering darkly.

"And what's 'that one', anyway?" He had a good idea of what Mustang was leading up to, but he wanted to make sure before he invested his hope in something false. Even so, his heart had started to beat faster, and his words had tumbled out too quickly to be heated.

If Mustang noticed this, he didn't acknowledge it, for which Ed was thankful. He simply looked down at Ed and said, "'That one' is where she is."

Ed was off like a shot. He had no need to ask who 'she' was, but his dash was cut short as the colonel reached out and caught hold of his collar. Ignoring the outraged choking noises coming from the young man, Mustang hauled him back.

"Damn it, Elric," he hissed. "Do you think that they're going to simply let you rush in?" Ed snorted angrily as Al pulled him out of his superior's grasp, but he didn't try to dash off again or hit the colonel. Neither did he say no when Mustang said wearily, "I'll go first."

They made an odd trio tramping up the cracked concrete steps, Al's quietly ringing footfalls bringing up the rear. Mustang reached the door and gently snapped his fingers; neither he nor Ed heard Al's plaintive, "Are you /_sure_/ this is it?" as the lock melted to slag and the colonel pushed open the door.

He stepped aside as Ed rushed in. The blond was faced with the immediate choice of dashing down one of the hallways on either side, or up the dilapidated staircase right in front of him. The promlem was solved when Mustang pointed up at the next floor. "There's a light up there," he noted, and started forward.

Ed pushed past him roughly and sprinted up the steps two at a time, even as Al cried after him, "Wait - Brother - " and followed. The colonel climbed last, his pace quick and sharp. He reached the top as Ed skidded to a stop before a door open a crack. The blond alchemist was soon joined by his brother, who was in turn closely followed by Mustang. As Ed reached to push the door wider, the whole world seemed to hold its breath.

Light spilled into the darkened hallways as the door creaked open, and for a moment it dazzled the eyes of the two State Alchemists. Al saw what the door had revealed, however, and even as his brother's sight cleared, he shouted, "Ed, don't! No!"

It was too late. Ed's gasp had deafened him to his brother's words, and the image he was presented with blinded him to the rest of the world.

Winry lay on a bed against the far wall of a small room, her eyes closed, her hands folded neatly on her stomach. Her chest rose and fell with slow regularity. Her hair had fanned out around her head, and apart from the small frown on her lips, she looked to be entirely at peace in her sleep. Ed stumbled towards her, reaching out.

Al grabbed at his brother's shirt in a last bid to get his attention. "Ed! It's too /_easy_/ - !"

"Indeed."

Both brothers stapped moving, their sudden stillness lasting only a second as they wheeled around to the corner the voice had come from, Ed's face and Al's manner a clear expression of their horror. Roy had jumped from where he had been leaning and watching the two, and his features showed nothing but fear.

King Bradley smiled serenely at their expressions and crossed his arms, completely at ease.

--

_AN: Edited! Thank you Yellow Mask for beta-ing, and so sorry to everyone for having to post this raw. At least this os one of my better chapters, in terms of number of typos/_

_Really, I'm sorry about the cliffhanger. Only... I'm sort of pleased with it. Hee. -is bricked-_

_(Next chapter is the final one. !)_

_Also, my apologies for Ed's pottymouth. I was trying for the sullen, bitchy Ed we sometimes see... usually around Hoenheim or Roy. Heh._


	7. Six

"_Mustang, you fucking traitor_!"

Roy pulled himself out of the horrified stupor Wrath's smiling face had sent him into and barked out a mirthless laugh. Without taking his eyes off of the Fuhrer, the colonel answered Ed scornfully.

"Fullmetal, do you _actually_ think I'd ally myself with _him_?" As Roy's words shook, the blond looked back sharply, almost as if he were trying to guage his superior. Gazing past the shorter alchemist to the threat the homunculus presented, the colonel didn't continue but simply set his jaw.

Wrath seemed incredibly amused by the exchange. Smiling benignly, he took a leisurely step towards the bed where Winry lay, chuckling when Ed jerked in response. He looked like an indulgent father more than anything else, and that was the tone he took as he spoke.

"My, Edward, did you _really_ think our dear Colonel Mustang set you and your brother up? Tsk. He'd no more work with me than you would." Bradley shook his head, but smiled once again as Ed's face darkened. "You were, however, set up - all of you."

Bradley's voice had an almost lulling effect. The hissed, "You - " that escaped Al cut through the air like a knife after the Fuhrer's words.

The indulgent smile widened. "Good, good! Alphonse, you _are_ a sharp one. Your first statement was absolutely correct, as well - it _was _too easy, wasn't it? If I had actually intended to hurt Miss Rockbell, you would have taken much longer than you did to find her - _if_ you found her at all." Wrath's smile had taken on a frightening twist.

He began to stroll back and forth, apparently enjoying the feeling of two pairs of eyes following him, three people's full attention bent on his every movement. He was between them and Winry, and though he wore no sword at his hip, Roy was sure that the Elric brothers had noticed the one leaning against the headboard of the bed. The odds were utterly against them, and they could do no more than listen as Bradley continued.

"So you found her - congratulations! I left enough of a trail to make it quite easy, but I do admit myself impressed at your alacrity. You found out that she was gone... when?"

"...The day before yesterday," supplied Ed, stiff and reluctant. Roy could tell by the clenching of his fists that the blond alchemist knew full well that Wrath knew every move they'd made in relation to Winry's dissappearance. It was infuriating to have to play along with the game.

The President went on blithely. "Ah yes - I remember. So, you found out two days ago, contacted our very own Colonel immediately, and left together with your brother the next morning. You arrived in Rush Valley at three and at the workshop just after three thirty, and went to the hotel around six... at which time Colonel Mustang left. He returned to you but an hour ago, at around five o'clock." Bradley grinned hugely at Roy, who felt his breath stop. It was truly stunning to realize just how much the homunculus knew. He closed his eyes, only faintly hearing it when the Fuhrer asked him, "So, Colonel Mustang - what _did_ you do last night, that led you here with such admirable speed?"

Swollowing, Roy steadied himself, and with effort looked his enemy in the face. The patch that hid the Fuhrer's 'Ultimate Eye' mocked him as he spoke. "One of Miss Rockbell's friends was previously a thief. Though she now works honestly, she remains in contact with a few old collegues, and has access to information that I, as a State Alchemist and Colonel in the Amestris Army, do not. I met with her after Fullmetal and his brother went to the hotel. She brought me to certain individuals who had been in the area at the general time it is believed Miss Rockbell was taken."

Ed was staring at the colonel as he paused, comprehension dawning in his golden eyes. Roy could see the boy's expression and almost smiled, but Bradley moved slightly and Roy's eyes flicked back to him, prompting his expression to remain stony and his narrative to continue.

"I met with several persons and asked about all of the comings and goings they had observed from eight thirty in the evening and on. I met with three individuals, and after a time they concurred: only two people, together, entered the shop after nine, and they left fifteen minutes later. The time works with that recorded on the note; one of the two patrons was on crutches, and from all accounts missing a leg.

"When they left, the crippled individual was a bit unsteady, and his companion went around to the back of the shop where he had apparently parked a car. The cripple was helped into it, and the two drove off."

Wrath had been looking prograssively more pleased as the colonel spoke, and it seemed that he could no longer contain himself. "The... individuals you talked to - it dawned on them as they recounted their observations what they had observed had been, in fact, a kidnapping?"

Roy nodded stiffly, resisting the urge to clench his teeth and fists. It was so hard to force himself to be blankly professional what with all of the adrenaline coursing through his body. It took an effort to remain still and keep his gaze even.

King Bradley's wide grin became conspiratorial. "So, Colonel, tell me - what roused your suspicion in the first place? I didn't expect anything to strike you for a few days, at the least."

There was silence as the coal-eyed man paused, thinking. Slowly, he said, "It was a combination of factors - no one thing in particular drew my attention, but all together, little details added up. The back door closing. The layout of the room. The reflectiveness of Miss Rockbell's automail order. The position of a wrench on an otherwise neat worktable. It didn't mean anything, but it spurred me to talk to Miss Rockbell's friend."

"And after that, it was simple enough to follow the path of the car," Wrath concluded, looking exultant. Not waiting for his subordinate to agree, the Fuhrer laughed and clapped his hands, murmuring, "Good, good!" to himself and pacing the room.

Broken from his trance of professionalism, Roy sucked in a shuddering breath, his posture sagging noticably. But though he was physically drained, his eyes remained furious and sharp, never for a moment leaving the face of his superior.

Ed was the one to break the charged silence that had built. "Give Winry back to us, Wrath," he said, voice tight, an edge of preemptive fight in his tone. The determination in every line of his body was genuine, but it was obvious he expected no less than to be attacked for asking. He had stiffened in anticipation and Al had shifted his stance, and behind them Roy straightened slowly.

The Fuhrer looked at the Elric brothers in suprise, as if noticing them for the first time. He looked back at Winry's inert form with an almost puzzled expression, then to Roy, who still watched him with a furious intensity. The Homunculus' face changed as his gaze left that of his subordinate, and by the time it swung back to Ed it seemed that Bradley was savoring a very funny private joke. The three before him tensed.

"She's all yours."

It took a moment for the words' meaning to dawn on the alchemists. In that time, Wrath had stepped away from the bed and his sword and retreated towards the wall beside him, grinning at the expressions on their faces and bowing them towards the mechanic. To Roy, that grin was one of the most horrifying things he had yet seen, though it seemed on the surface no different than the gleeful smiles given during his report. While that unspeakably dangerous smirk was in place and pointed in his direction, urging him to come forward, the colonel had no intention of moving an inch from his position just inside of the door.

Bradley laughed aloud as it became apparent that not one of the three alchemists trusted him in his sudden relinquishing of Winry. Sweeping a courtly bow so perfectly executed it could be nothing but utterly mocking, he murmured, "Until next time, Sirs," and strode out of the room. He was gone in an eyeblink, without touching any of them. Only a moment's pause had been given to Roy, in the form of a nod and a deeply unsettling, knowing grin. Several seconds were needed by all three to register what had just happened.

A waking hiss of breath from Winry jogged everyone out of their stupor. Ed gave a start and took a stumbling step towards the bed before he got his legs under him and made a dash for his mechanic; Al followed eagerly, if more slowly, still turing the events of the past day or two over in his mind.

He didn't make it halfway across the room before coming to a sudden halt, a peal of disbelieving laughter escaping him. Ed whipped around to face his brother, a question already on his lips, and almost as if on cue Winry groaned again. The elder Elric rushed to her side without hesitation, but the younger remained still.

"It was all an experiment," he said in a hushed tone, nothing but reverance in his voice.

Roy paled as this final piece clicked into place. He only watched distractedly as Ed bent over Winry, Al pacing slowly towards the pair and gently scooping the girl into his arms. Too many possibilites to bear swirled behind the black eyes; they squeezed shut tightly, trying to block it all out, to push unwanted imgaes from his mind. It was only when he felt a hesitant touch on his shoulder did Roy once again crack open his eyes, but the look on Ed's face was enough to make the colonel wait for whatever he had to say.

It took the blond a moment to gather himself, and when he did speak it was the most subdued Roy had ever heard him.

"I'm sorry, Mustang." Neither one needed that elaborated. "And... thank you. I don't know how long it would have taken me to find Winry..."

Before Ed could continue, Roy put up a hand. "Edward," he said tiredly, "I thank you for the apology and appreciate the thanks... but do you really think anything needs to be said at this point?" The shorter alchemist seemed to accept this after a pause; Al's approach with Winry in his arms would have halted the conversation either way.

"Come on," Roy said, unconsciously echoing himself as he led them out of the house, into the morning. As troubled as he was, it could wait.

It was a beautiful day.

--

**End.**

--

_AN: And so ends Trump Card, my first multi-chapter fanfiction in about three years. A huge thank you to Yellow Mask (who beta'd every chapter and saved me from airing some really shameful typos and misspellings) and to everyone who reviewed, favorited, or watched this fic. You guys are all awesome._

_Hopefully, this chapter served its duty well. I tried to explain everything without being too wordy, and to close it on a note of hope in the most hopeless of times. Or something._

_Also, I hope that it became obvious here that Roy is as much (if not more so) the main character as Ed, which is why I originally had this under Roy M. and Edward E. Oh well ._

_Again, thank you all._

_-Jenna_


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